LAST MODIFIED: 4/16/08
[click for larger pic]
FIRST SEAWIND NATIONALS:
WOODY'S HARBOR:
NEW LISTINGS....
LINK LIST::
WVRCM FORUM
SCHEDULE 2007-2008
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM
WVRCM 1 METER SPORT RULES.
INDEX OF ARTICLES
of general interest
1. R/C list of channels and frequencies
2. U.S Navy Signal Flags
3. U.S. Navy Pennants
4. Three part article on maneuvering
of single and twin screw ships
5. THE BIG PICTURE OF SAIL ADJUSTING.
CURVE…TWIST…TENSION…
CLICK HERE for Part I
CLICK HERE for Part II
6. Point of View
on making Protest workable
rather than obnoxious.
7. Pictures of WVRCM Fleet of Boats.
8. Pictures of Schooners
from 2005 Mesa Regatta and others.
9.HOW TO TIE KNOTS [Animated]
10. IS FM REALLY BETTER THAN AM?
Not necessarily! Clear & comprehensive
LINKS TO OTHER CLUBS IN VALLEY:
ARIZONA MODEL YACHTING ASSOCIATION
valley wide achedule of regatta events
MESA MODEL YACHT CLUB
TILLERMAN MODEL YACHT CLUB
far eastern part of the valley.
COPPERSTATE MODEL YACHT CLUB
Scottsdale, Arizona
SEAWIND RESOURCE CENTER
for info on AMYA SEAWIND CLASS
AMERICAN MODEL YACHT ASSOCIATION
Governs national model sail matters
WHERE TO FIND STUFF:
[found a good one....let me know...
I will add it to the list
HOBBY TOWN USA
HOBBY BENCH HAS 3 STORES
ISLAND HOBBIES ISLAND HOBBIES
is a new Kyosho Dealer
and a sponsor of our SeaWind Nationals Regatta.
Appears to be a good place to consider buying Seawind stuff among other things.
 Among the largest mail order hobby resources.
Depending on what you want,
if you can deal with Ebay,
sometimes that is a workable alternative!
HOBBY LOBBY INTERNATIONAL
Hobby Lobby is also a very good place to shop
for boats and accessories; particularly electric motor data.
They also are the place to go to order stuff from the HUGE GERMAN GRAUPNER COMPANY.
MODEL EXPO
For an extensive collection of old sailing ship kits
and extensive fittings
SERVO CITY
If you are looking for servos, or neat stuff
consider checking this site.
some very good prices!
GREAT BASIN MODEL YACHTING [GBMY]
Extensive racing sailboat fittings
Has been sold. Site closed
Maybe new web site in months to come
SEAWIND FLEET:
|
LITCHFIELD LAKE WEST END [where SCALE events are held]
WVRCM
MEMORIES
The West Valley RC Mariners, is a club for those interested in Radio Controlled Model boats,
both Scale and Racing Sail Boats. Our activities are usually located in the western part of the
Phoenix Arizona Valley. Generally, you will find us at the Litchfield Park Lake just north
of Indian School Road bypass on old Litchfield Road, on the first Saturday morning of each month about 10:00am.
Check the schedule LINK IN LEFT COLUMN.
If this is your first visit to the WVCRM web site, WELCOME
 You are vistor #
To everyone..... thank you for visiting our web site
Webmaster for WVRCM site: Rowland Stevens. email: rowland2@lycos.com (623) 877-2750
I am also Commodore of WVRCM for next two years as of January 1, 2007....Mike Eades is Vice Commodore and Director of Sail Activities.
NEXT CLUB MEETING SATURDAY MAY 3RD, 2008 10:00am.
East end of Lake.
It was beautiful weather for the April Meeting.Expect May's to be likewise.
We will consider the purchase of and splitting the cost of a new sail electronic start machine purchase between donations from sail skippers and the club funds [which all skippers present last Saturday were agreeable to... and any other alternative proposal.
We will also consider the schedule of events for 2008-09. Your input is particularly invited and encouraged for this meeting. Feel free to email me with any comments you have; which I will relay to others if you can not attend.
BOTH sail and scale are welcome for some just plain fun running.
See you there.
NEXT EVENT: SATURDAY MAY 24TH 2008, 9:30AM Seawind 1 meter sport regatta.
Chances seem good that the weather should be great. But this time there may be a "hint" of the summer weather to come!
HERE ARE THE RESULTS OF LAST SATURDAY'S APRIL SW/1 METER SPORT REGATTA:
The weather last Saturday was absolutely fantastic. For the first time, in a long time, the wind was "strong", definitely requiring a switch in thinking into a strong wind mode. Mike started the day with a brief but clear explaination of how to "depower" your boat so you can maintain control and ability to turn in heavy weather. The wind never did get excessive and I never saw any seawind pitchpole its bow into the water. Thanks to Woody and Gerhard for helping Mike with the starting and scoring.
We have created a WVRCM FORUM in which we can communicate, discuss ask
for help or give solutions we have found or whatever......HOPE YOU ENJOY IT...Great place to let others know if you are thinking of attending an upcoming event..
very simple to register as a member just click on register at the top ....then
you can log in....IN ADDITION the forum has a "chat" capability.......
if you have any questions about how it works just email me and we will figure it
out.....I'm just learning about how it all works to!!!!
\
CLICK HERE TO GO TO FORUM OR GO DIRECTLY to Forum by adding this url to your favorites http://wvrcm.forummotion.com
The Westside has a new HOBBY STORE east of Desert Sky Mall:
HOBBY TOWN USA 73RD AVE -THOMAS AVE
7333 W. THOMAS ROAD suite 26 [Just south of Ross...facing west]
Phoenix, Arizona 85033
Phone: 623 846-2008
Fax: 623 846-2264
Stop by and see their store and let them know you saw their name in the WVRCM web site!
Might encourage them to expand their minute boat department!
THANKS AGAIN FOR VISITING
I've heard it said...."scale boats are fine....but once they are built".....it's once around the pond.....and then what do you do? Actually, if one accepts the challange every real boat skipper has.........there is much to do.
It takes but an hour to make a "U shaped" foam dock with a PVC pipe frame that you can lay in a slot you cut in the foam and attach with liquidnail. You can even attach the corners with screw plastic fitting so it easily collapses. If you add to 90 degree intersection fittings, vertically, at the end, a smaller pvc pipe will then slip through which you can pound into the lake bed to hold it firm. Then, 3 or 4 "U shaped" vertical pipe frames, that again, screw together at the corners, so they can collapse to which you slide circle foam disk, on each vertical pipe and you have some "gates" that you can simply throw out from shore with a weight........ [as we do the sail marks] And presto you have a dock and a channel......
NOW YOU ARE READY TO TRY AND DEAL WITH THE FOUR CHALLANGES: CURRENT, HEAVY SHIP MOMENTUM, PROPELLOR TORQUE.....AND JUST AS WTIH SAIL BOATS .... PREDICTING AND DEALING WITH THE WIND
IT REQUIRES HOURS AND HOURS OF PRACTICE.... TO EVEN BEGIN TO BE ABLE TO MANEUVER A SCALE BOAT, COMPETENTLY.....WHICH AFTER SPENDING MONTHS BUILDING THEM.....ANY BEAUTIFUL SCALE BOAT DESERVES! Ask yourself....would I be a happy camper, if I was a passenger on the real version....if it came into the dock as I do with my model???????
SOME "BIG PICTURE" SUGGESTIONS FOR THOSE JUST ENTERING THE HOBBY
With regard to "Scale models:" Basically none. The sky's the limit. But one matter you might consider: the choice of radio's particularly if you are also interested in sailing. You might consider buying a radio with at least 4 channels, 6 would be better and more than that if you can afford it, tho they tend to get rather expensive. But you will probably find, fairly quickly that you will want as many "controls" as you can get, far beyond simply controlling the rudder and motor.
DUMAS, MIDWEST AND BILLING BOATS grade their kits as to difficulty. Consider starting with nothing more than an advanced beginner or "intermediate" level of difficulty. A kit with a lot of above deck "detail" can take a very long time to complete. While MIDWEST'S Boothbay Lobster boat at 30" , may not interest you specifically, a kit like it is great place to start. Enough detail, without being swamped with work, yet you end up with a really nice looking boat. And big enough, that it makes construction easier.
With regard to "Racing sail boats:" On the other hand, believe it or not, more and more of the best skippers in the valley tend to go with the cheapest $60 two channel radio without recharable batteries. They simply buy a big box of regular batteries and throw them away afterwards. The idea is that once you have had a few batteries problems, if one doesn't mind the somewhat higher continuing expense, its comforting to know that you always have fresh batteries. Todays radio's even the $60 ones, are extremely reliable. And two channels is all you need, indeed many class rules provide that you can not use more than two channels.
On the other hand, a $60 radio usually does not come with rechargable nicads. You can get nicads, but it takes 8 in the transmitter and 4 in the receiver. At $1.20 from Tower or $2.50 locally, you now have an investment close to $100. Usually 4 channel radio's (which will cost about $110-$130) come with nicads and a charger; and it is a one time expense. At least for a couple of years. Perhaps it is a good idea to replace Nicads every two years or so, whether they appear to need it or not, just so you don't have a problem.
Secondly, while there are many "kit" sailboats, there are four main ones, you will find in the local hobby shops: Victorias, Fairwinds, Northwinds and Seawinds. Victoria's are a small 24" boat, sailed mainly on the east side of the valley. Northwinds are 36" and have the advantage of being about $130 and have the long keel; but most significantly gives up many square inches of sail area to the seawind. The Fairwind is the same length, but somewhat broader, with a much shorter keel and therefore simply will not move as well, particularly in very light winds, which is often the case in Arizona. Yet its cost in comparable with the Seawind. The Seawind is 1 meter long, with the long keel
and the largest of the sail areas. It is a very good boat, with enough capability to challange you for years to come. It's cost is in the $300+ range without a radio.
All three are good looking boats and require about the same work to put together. Most of which has been done for you. Perhaps the best thing to do, is find the people you are going to sail with and get a boat similar to what they have. You may want to be very careful before you get a Fairwind, it does have its limitations, in Arizona light winds, which rather quickly will become quite frustrating.
Just to complete the sailing picture, the other common boats, particularly on the east side of Phoenix is the AMYA 36/600 high tech class and the half again bigger Marblehead class at 54 inches. Several of the best skippers in the country sail there, including the 2003 National Champion. However, these boats are generally custom made, carbon fiber and rather expensive; other than, as I said, some use the cheapest of radios! But they move in zephers of wind, you can hardly feel. For the ultimate in sail racing, in the valley, this is it, if one has developed the skill and knowledge to take advantage of it.
|
